HOWLAND — Motorists taking state Route 11 north from Youngstown heading for central Warren may have to look for a new route.

The April 14 collapse of a culvert off the westbound lanes of state Route 82 near the East Market Street turnoff called for an emergency repair and replacement of that culvert by Ohio Department of Transportation crews.

ODOT, however, has closed the exit ramp off Route 11 northbound onto Route 82 westbound, which is a few miles east of the construction zone.

Normally, ODOT likes to create state route detours onto other state routes, and a closer route would be state Route 46 in Howland. But the traffic situation at that interchange has prompted ODOT to change its detour policy in this case, according to one transportation official.

“The detour is set up how it is because we want to avoid backup on the state Route 46 exit ramp and not have cars stopped on state Route 82 waiting for a light (to change),” Ray Marsch, public information officer for ODOT’s District 4, said.

Marsch said ODOT will continue to monitor the progress of construction and traffic and will make changes to the detour route if deemed necessary.

By following the ODOT detour, Route 11 northbound motorists have to detour all the way to state Route 305 in Fowler Township and then make their way back to Warren via state Route 5 (Elm Road), a detour that would take drivers about 20 miles out of their way.

Motorists using a global positioning system (GPS) can use a shorter detour via the Route 11 / Tibbetts Wick Road exit for southeast Warren and Niles, or the Route 11 / King Graves Road exit for northeast Warren and Howland.

In the meantime, Howland Administrator Darlene St. George wants to clarify the damage on the Warren bypass really wasn’t caused by a sinkhole.

“It is a pipe that caved in, and it is about nine to 10 feet in diameter so I believe a new one has to be made,” St. George said.

Ann Harris, a longtime geologist and former professor at Youngstown State University who tracked underground coal mines in the Mahoning Valley, said the Howland area isn’t prone to sinkholes because geology in the area doesn’t fit the profile.

Harris said sinkholes are created in areas with underground coal beds that contain a lot of limestone, and the groundwater is slightly acidic. She said the prevalent sinkhole areas of Trumbull County are Liberty, Hubbard, Weathersfield and Brookfield, where old coal mines were located.

As far as the heavy rains contributing to the collapsed culvert, Harris said the problem could have been caused by groundwater seeping into the pipe causing cracks, or perhaps animal related, such as a groundhog creating havoc.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com